Ricardo Lagos

This article is about the former president of Chile. For his son, a former minister, see Ricardo Lagos Weber.
In this Chilean name, the first or paternal surname is Lagos and the second or maternal family name is Escobar.

Ricardo Lagos
Official portrait, 2000
32nd President of Chile
In office
11 March 2000 – 11 March 2006
Preceded byEduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Succeeded byMichelle Bachelet
Minister of Public Works
In office
11 March 1994 – 1 August 1998
PresidentEduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
Preceded byCarlos Hurtado Ruiz-Tagle
Succeeded byJaime Tohá
Minister of Education
In office
11 March 1990 – 28 September 1992
PresidentPatricio Aylwin
Preceded byRené Salamé Martín
Succeeded byJorge Arrate
Personal details
Born (1938-03-02) 2 March 1938 (age 86)
Santiago, Chile
Political partyParty for Democracy
(1987–present)
Other political
affiliations		Radical Party
(1959–1961)
Socialist Party of Chile
(1961–1987)
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1961; ann. 1969)​
​
(m. 1971)​
Children
  • Ricardo
  • Ximena
  • Hernán (stepson)
  • Francisca
  • Alejandro (stepson)
Alma materUniversity of Chile
Duke University
Occupation
Signature

Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (Spanish pronunciation: [riˈkaɾðo fɾojˈlan ˈlaɣos eskoˈβaɾ]; born 2 March 1938)[1] is a Chilean lawyer, economist and social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Chilean military dictatorship and astounded contemporaries in 1988 by openly denouncing dictator Augusto Pinochet on live television. He served as Minister of Education from 1990 to 1992 and Minister of Public Works from 1994 to 1998 under President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle before narrowly winning the 1999–2000 presidential election in a runoff against Independent Democrat Union (UDI) candidate Joaquín Lavín. Lagos was the third president from the centre-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy to have governed Chile since 1990. He was succeeded on 11 March 2006 by Socialist Michelle Bachelet, from the same coalition. From 2007 to 2010 he served as a Special Envoy on Climate Change for the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.[2][3] Lagos made an unsuccessful bid to run for president in the 2017 Chilean general election.[4][5]

  1. ^ "Lagos celebra sus 80 años en evento con autoridades y ex colaboradores". La Tercera. 3 March 2018.
  2. ^ "UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Appoints Special Envoys on Climate Change". United Nations. 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
  3. ^ "Ricardo Lagos". The Elders. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Comité Central del Partido Socialista elige a Guillier como su candidato presidencial por amplia mayoría". Emol.com. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  5. ^ 10:35 hrs. Lunes 10, Abril 2017 (10 April 2017). "Ricardo Lagos renuncia a candidatura presidencial | Tele 13". T13.cl. Retrieved 27 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)